Though HE knows us better than we know ourselves and knows already our wants and desires and needs we are still called to pray without ceasing....
Below is a way we should approach our GOD in prayer:
Adore HIM by lifting our eyes up, raising our arms up, hands uplifted and hearts lifted to HIM giving our undivided attention to HIM with our mouths in worship.
Confess to HIM being repentant of our sins and guilt and getting rid of our self righteous attitudes, fearing our Lord and considering HIS anger at our sins by asking forgiveness of them.
Petition HIM by seeking HIM with all our hearts, mind and soul asking HIM to heal and fix whatever is wrong deferring to HIS wisdom and authority.
Thanking HIM by giving glory due and being grateful for what HE has provided for you by giving thanks, singing, clapping of hands, worship and song uplifted to HIM.
Intercession Prayer for others is a must as we are called to prayer for others, our family, our neighbors, our friends, yes, even strangers and asking HIM to reveal HIS salvation to all.
Conclude the Prayer by asking HIM to direct our hearts to do HIS will, and asking HIM to restore us, strengthen us, confirm us and establish us and to provide always for us more than we could think of asking for or think of.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Tugs on My Heart
Despite the overwhelming hurt and pain I am going through in my own life right now and feeling like I am lost all over again...GOD is there, I just have to reach out and grab hold...I know that. It is hard though when your heart is shattered.
But... church last Sunday was one of those services that tugged hard on my heart...so hard in fact that all I could do was cry my eyes out. Their little faces...so beautiful in their innocence, yet these children are the poorest of the poor and each had such beautiful smiles on their faces. I longed to reach out and just hold them, walk with them, laugh with them. Someday I so hope to get that chance.
What would my life look like if I gave it all up and just followed Jesus? Seriously..what if I sold everything I owned, and left the United States to bring the Word to those who don't have it or so desperately want to hear it...it is a deep longing of mine and has been for a couple of years. I've told no one...at least not anyone close to me, just keeping it between me and Jesus up until now, seeing as I've posted it here.
What would my family think if I just up and left to bear the cross to others? Would they think I am insane? Would they care? Would they be angry? I don't know...my children are teenagers and still need me somewhat, and I have a husband but more and more I hear a whisper telling me get up and go, just leave, you will love your new life with ME.
Do I dare? Do I give it all up for HIM? YES, I want to!!!!!!!!!!! I only want HIM, no other....maybe this is why my life is slowly falling apart around me because HE is pulling me closer to HIM. Could it be so??
Father LORD, you know my heart, my mind, my soul....I don't know what YOU want of me...make YOUR will known to my unseeing mind and eyes and let Your grace and love shine through me for others. Help me to focus only on YOU and nothing else and to live my life as YOU have chosen for me. In Jesus Name, Amen.
But... church last Sunday was one of those services that tugged hard on my heart...so hard in fact that all I could do was cry my eyes out. Their little faces...so beautiful in their innocence, yet these children are the poorest of the poor and each had such beautiful smiles on their faces. I longed to reach out and just hold them, walk with them, laugh with them. Someday I so hope to get that chance.
What would my life look like if I gave it all up and just followed Jesus? Seriously..what if I sold everything I owned, and left the United States to bring the Word to those who don't have it or so desperately want to hear it...it is a deep longing of mine and has been for a couple of years. I've told no one...at least not anyone close to me, just keeping it between me and Jesus up until now, seeing as I've posted it here.
What would my family think if I just up and left to bear the cross to others? Would they think I am insane? Would they care? Would they be angry? I don't know...my children are teenagers and still need me somewhat, and I have a husband but more and more I hear a whisper telling me get up and go, just leave, you will love your new life with ME.
Do I dare? Do I give it all up for HIM? YES, I want to!!!!!!!!!!! I only want HIM, no other....maybe this is why my life is slowly falling apart around me because HE is pulling me closer to HIM. Could it be so??
Father LORD, you know my heart, my mind, my soul....I don't know what YOU want of me...make YOUR will known to my unseeing mind and eyes and let Your grace and love shine through me for others. Help me to focus only on YOU and nothing else and to live my life as YOU have chosen for me. In Jesus Name, Amen.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Unconditional Love, Humility and Healing
I wanted to take a few minutes and share some stuff. I'm learning and growing as GOD wants me too and it took a long time to get on the right path in my life. There are few things worse to me, anyways, than having a friend, neighbor or dear family member upset, angry or down right pissed at you...but in this process of growing I am learning some valuable lessons. What does the term Unconditional Love mean to you? What does Humility mean? What does being humble mean? First I want to share that in my own life I have a dear friend who over the years we've had some pretty good spats or whatever you want to call them...and we both were unforgiving to the point that we didnt talk to each other...NOT the way Christ wants us to be! My friend shared a couple of articles with me by author Andrew Murray on Humility and Divine Healing...amazing. Today..this friend and I are closer than we have ever been. It was GOD who touched her heart as she searched for answers and not only provided her answers to her own questions but also touched her heart and mentioned to her to call me as I was struggling with my own life stuff and on the point of running and never looking back. And on that day I was driving away here she came in her car and met me on the road...we stopped, rolled down our windows and said HI. and the usual "How ya doing"and when she asked the tears started flowing..I couldnt stop them if I tried. She had tears too. She became my life line out of a very dark pit I seemed to have fallen in without even knowing it. She is my friend, my confidante, my neighbor, my lifeline in time of need, and what I find amazing is there is such a beautiful light in her now...a light from Christ..I can see it, I can feel it, I hear it in not only her words but her actions...it is very humbling to me. And you ask where GOD was? HE was always with us, just waiting on us to look up and ask. We did. And my heart is near to bursting with love, tears of joy, and a new deep respect for my friend that I never had before. I love her unconditionally...it no longer matters the words of hurt we've said to each other in the past...it no longer matters the tears of pain, for Christ stepped in and healed divinely a relationship we thought would never heal. Isnt GOD amazing? Amen!Unconditional love to me means: YOU FORGIVE any wrong..no matter how bad it may be or how hateful, or how painful or how devastating, doesnt matter whether your heart was broken, doesnt matter if your cursed at fouly, doesnt matter if it was a huge misunderstanding...what does Christ call you to do? Read Matthew 6:14-15 "If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins." Can you really take the chance on your Heavenly Father not forgiving you just because your carrying around pride, pain, hurt, misguided feelings? Humility is the state of being humble...and GOD tells us in Matthew 23:12 "For whoever exalts himself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself will be exalted" Have you been humble today? To a friend, a loved one, a family member, a neighbor? Didn't Christ deny Himself to live humbly before others to take care of them and their needs first? Isn't that what we are called to do also? This has been on my heart for a few days now...but even more so after a phone call yesterday for a couple of people I am praying for as the years they have been friends and both living as Christ, as Christians, their relationship can be healed...it is only a matter of coming to each other in humility, being humble and whatever has been held inside for weeks or months should be given up and forgiven for it is what Christ wants. We can't be like Christ or live like Him if we are harboring anger, resentment, ill will towards someone we call friend and family. We should come to the person being humble in presenting our concerns in unconditional love instead of anger and resentment and pray together and alone for Christ to heal the broken parts of the relationships. We should empty ourselves of "I", "Me" or anything else that is of "Self" and fill it instead with "Christ" and let HIS light shine outwards from us.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Unconditional Love
Should we forgive those who continually hurt us? A human's heart is like a stone once it has been hurt repeatedly by someone they care for or love, it weighs them down inside. A human's heart can be fickle, unloving, and unkind.
But what does GOD tell us to do? Let's take a look inside two books of the bible, Matthew and Daniel.
Matthew 18:21-22 "Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" (listen to how Christ responds)
Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times." (or seventy times seven depending on what version of the bible you have)
How much is seventy times seven? Wow...490 times, but why such a random odd number, or is it? Let's dig a little further back into history and go meet Daniel.
Daniel 9:24 "Seventy" sevens are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy.
(Gabriel, the man Daniel had seen in his vision earlier, came to give him insight and understanding, telling him that he was highly esteemed by his Lord. Gabriel shared with Daniel how from the issuing decree to rebuild and restore Jerusalem until the Anointed One comes there will be seven "sevens" and sixty two "sevens". We are given 490 years to repent of all of our sins and return to the one who created us.
GOD gives each of us Seventy times Seven in forgiveness, how can we not follow His lead and do the same to our friends, family, neighbors and strangers. How can we still hold a grudge when GOD gave His only child to us who died on the cross to save all of us from sin? Can you picture the overwhelming despair and grief of a father who loved that much? He gave up his only son who took all sin upon himself the day He hung upon the Cross, to save us all, not to watch us destroy each other, not to watch us kill another, not to watch race fight against race, not to hear all the hate that comes out of our mouths, but to redeem all of us that are unredeemable on our own.
So when I find myself hurting from words said by another that I care for or love, as a human my first reaction is to give back just what they are giving me, hurt. But GOD stops me...He tells me that I must let all those transgressions against me go, to forgive the one hurting me, to forgive the one who causes unbearable grief. I'm human, I do get angry, I do cry, I do get bitter, I have held grudges and not forgiven in the past but to be brought before my Lord as He so patiently does time and time again reminds me of just how much He forgave me so I may have everlasting life in Him.
But what does GOD tell us to do? Let's take a look inside two books of the bible, Matthew and Daniel.
Matthew 18:21-22 "Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" (listen to how Christ responds)
Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times." (or seventy times seven depending on what version of the bible you have)
How much is seventy times seven? Wow...490 times, but why such a random odd number, or is it? Let's dig a little further back into history and go meet Daniel.
Daniel 9:24 "Seventy" sevens are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy.
(Gabriel, the man Daniel had seen in his vision earlier, came to give him insight and understanding, telling him that he was highly esteemed by his Lord. Gabriel shared with Daniel how from the issuing decree to rebuild and restore Jerusalem until the Anointed One comes there will be seven "sevens" and sixty two "sevens". We are given 490 years to repent of all of our sins and return to the one who created us.
GOD gives each of us Seventy times Seven in forgiveness, how can we not follow His lead and do the same to our friends, family, neighbors and strangers. How can we still hold a grudge when GOD gave His only child to us who died on the cross to save all of us from sin? Can you picture the overwhelming despair and grief of a father who loved that much? He gave up his only son who took all sin upon himself the day He hung upon the Cross, to save us all, not to watch us destroy each other, not to watch us kill another, not to watch race fight against race, not to hear all the hate that comes out of our mouths, but to redeem all of us that are unredeemable on our own.
So when I find myself hurting from words said by another that I care for or love, as a human my first reaction is to give back just what they are giving me, hurt. But GOD stops me...He tells me that I must let all those transgressions against me go, to forgive the one hurting me, to forgive the one who causes unbearable grief. I'm human, I do get angry, I do cry, I do get bitter, I have held grudges and not forgiven in the past but to be brought before my Lord as He so patiently does time and time again reminds me of just how much He forgave me so I may have everlasting life in Him.
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